Mortgages Blog

The big housing news is local

The big news of the housing recovery is still embedded in the local markets, according to December's data from Realtor.com.

The year concluded with the trends that began it: Markets hardest hit by the housing crisis, including those in Florida, Nevada, Arizona and California, are strengthening, while many areas in the Midwest and Northeast are stagnating or declining.

Of the 146 markets tracked by Realtor.com, for-sale inventory declined in all but one of them on a year-over-year basis. List prices increased significantly during the first half of the year but have decreased in recent months. Prices increased in 66 markets, held steady in 31 markets and declined in 49 of them.

The median price in December of $187,900 was just slightly less than it was in December the year earlier.

Regionally, California continued to reign over list-price increases, with markets in that state holding 7 of the top 10 with the greatest year-over-year gains. Peoria, Ill., had the biggest price decline of minus 14.3 percent in the one-year period. Other states on list of the top 10 markets with the largest price drops included Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and New Jersey.

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